Planting This & That

Over the last week, I finally got around to actually purchasing and plantings some plants.

The missus wanted some mint, so I got three varieties: Doublemint (Mentha 'Doublemint'), Kentucky Colonel (Mentha spicata 'Kentucky Colonel') and Red Stem Applemint (Mentha x gracilis ‘Madalene Hill’).

I finally found Salvia coccinea 'Summer Jewel Red' (I had been looking for it since early last year) and will likely return to get more.
Correction: On revisit to nursery, discovered that they were the more commonly available 'Lady in Red' variety (so it looks like I'll be going with that!)

I also decided to try Cobweb Spiderwort (Tradescantia sillamontana) in three places with different soil types and shade levels.  It'll be interesting to see to which it adapts to best.

I got the Yucca 'Color Guard' (Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard') to replace the Twin-flowered Agave that failed to survive the winter.

Some annuals finally made an appearance with Coleus 'Red Red Wine' getting a pot of it's own.

Foliage Follow-up: June 2011

As a follow-up to Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, Digging allows us the chance to show off the leafy aspects of our gardens.  With our ongoing drought, plants start the morning looking somewhat perky, and end the day looking pretty wilted.

One potted plant in my garden that demands a bit more water is this pass-along Coleus from Robin at Getting Grounded.  I was able to over-winter the plant and it is now back to its former glory.  I love the combination of green and maroon splashed about throughout its foliage.

The colors blend together and no two leafs show the same pattern.  Though green and maroon are the primary colors, their combination leads to additional flavors of pink and beige.

 

As the sun sets, it peeks through the upper canopy and highlights the Coleus from behind, lighting up the maroon undersides of the upturned leaves.

I'm unsure as to the variety name of the plant, but it has certainly been a star performer in my garden.

 

Be sure to visit the Digging blog to see the foliar shows found in other gardens.

Pots In The Garden

No silly, it says "Pots"; that's plural.  Hopefully you weren't looking for some other type of gardening adventure.

Until this past year, the concept of placing pots out in the garden was quite foreign to me.  Why would I want a pot on the soil - that's a spot where a plant could go!  Of course, I've always had potted plants, but they tended to be grouped onto my deck and certainly not amongst the garden plants.

Thanks for the Coleus, Robin (Getting Grounded) - I think its done rather well.

But as I visited other gardens in person and viewed garden blogs online, I began to see the value in pots going out into the garden.  If nothing else, in a shady garden, it certainly gives one the chance to add some needed color amongst the dominant green foliage (ummm...or bare dirt).  Not to mention the structural aspect it lends to certain areas, plus the way it catches and directs the eye.

I'm still trying to get comfortable with the whole idea.  But I have started dabbling with it.  Looking not only at plants when I visit nurseries, but also watching for pots that catch my fancy.  Trying to determine which plants might do better in a pot than in the ground.  Wrapping my mind around the thought that larger pots make more visual impact, but they're freaking heavy once filled - so better consider either annuals or winter-hardy plants (cuz lugging around pots to dodge freezes ain't my kind of fun - though I seem to be doing plenty of that anyway).
 

Most of my garden-bound potted plants still tend to find their way onto rocks or paths, but I'm beginning to feel adventurous enough to move a few out onto the dirt or amongst the soil-bound plants.  And I'm thinking I kinda like them out there.

Planted in the Ground:

• Southern Wood Fern (Dryopteris normalis): I'd been considering adding these to my garden and, when I found it on the discount rack, I grabbed five.  Though somewhat battered, as long as the roots are good, I figured it really didn't matter since our winter freezes would be removing the foliage before long anyway.

Planted in Pots:

• Tricolor Ginger (Stromanthe sanguinea 'Triostar'): Another discount rack discovery; has been on my Gotta Get list as a potted plant (along with 'Tricolor' - but I'm beginning to think its the same plant).
• Palm Grass (Setaria palmifolia): Have admired the plant's strap-like leaves for a while, but have always held back.  Will be interested to see how it does through the winter as I plan to leave it out.